


Ain't No Cure for Those Old World Blues

by Ashura



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Canon Compliant, Diary/Journal, Gen, Missing Scene, Old World Blues DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24301030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashura/pseuds/Ashura
Summary: The Courier is not, at this moment, dead. If that changes, and it seems like it could at any moment, these notes and recordings should be taken back to New Vegas. And if she does make it through, there are things they are going to need to talk about.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

_PIP-BOY RECORDING:_

_Annie’s Log_ _Day 0:_ _1,_ _10/1/_ _8_ _2_

[scratchy audio] What the everloving fuck is this – ?

[inaudible] [metallic screech]

Okay, in case somebody finds my body in a ravine half-eaten by mole rats or something, please do me a favor. You can take the weapons and ammo and whatever you need (unless your a fiend or a raider, in which case fuck off) but take this recording to New Vegas and give it to Veronica Santangelo or Craig Boone in the Lucky 38. Or Arcade Gannon in the Old Mormon Fort in Freeside. Hell, give it to the King if that’s all you can find and he’ll figure out where to send it. Thanks.

Hey Boone, or whoever, it’s Annie. Obviously. And I’m not dead right now. The last time I saw you was when we went to check out that weird movie thing in the south Mojave. I woke up in the Big Empty and I have no idea how I got here, but there are some psycho robot scientists and they took my brain. Not even joking. Brain, spine, and heart. I’m running on Tesla coils or some shit at the moment. The whole place is covered by a force field, but even if I could leave, I want my brain back first because what the fuck even is that? It’s somewhere in this...place...kidnapped by one of the other mad scientists. If that sounds insane, believe me, it is.

There’s some shit I have to find to get the force fields turned off so I can leave. In the meantime, the insane-o-bots gave me an apartment to hole up in. It was some pre-war experiment, so all the appliances have personalities or something? Only they’re all offline now, except the main one, who calls me ‘sir’ - he says that’s what his programming is, whatever, I don’t care – and that he’s like, my electronic servant, butler, whatever? He’s actually pretty useful, or will be when I get the hang of everything.

Packing plenty of heat and stocked up on stims, so we’ll see what happens. And hell, if I can walk around without a brain, how much worse can it get?

Don’t answer that.

_Day 1:1_

Hey guys. Morning. Had a decent night’s sleep in here actually. Robobrainiacs gave me a sonic emitter to interfere with the robots around here, and a gun that they claim is really a dog. I don’t fucking know. Found my spine and my heart, even though I can’t put them back in until I have my brain. Also until the Auto-Doc is fixed. First mission today: go get some antenna off the top of a building. Probably nowhere near as simple as it sounds.

_Day 1: 2_

So it turns out I’m not the first one to get pulled in here and have my head fucked with. There are a bunch of people in here who got lobotomized here before me and they’re still walking around too, only without the talking and thinking part. Good shooting reflexes though. And fast with the power fists. Also think I saw a spacesuit with a skeleton in it shooting at me at one point. There’s some really fucked up stuff here.

Otherwise getting to the antenna wasn’t too bad. Maybe the lobotomites can’t work doors? Just a few old security protectrons buzzing around. Grabbed the antenna and a voice came out of the sky. It’s this other mad scientist, the one these guys hate because they’re scared shitless of him. He has fucking robo-scorpions, and those things are not messing around. Went through a couple stimpacks before I could hide, but I got back here. Really gonna have to see what that sonic emitter can do before I take it out again. It’s supposed to work like a pulse grenade, but there were so many of the little fuckers.

_Day 1:3_

There’s a lot of weird shit I’m going to have to fill you in on. I just met my lightswitch. We flirted.

_Day 2:1_

Morning guys. I figure if I keep talking to you instead of the appliances I might come out of this sane. Looking for a pre-War set of stealth armor today. Long story.

_Day 2:2_

Got a bit lost on the way and found something fucked-up. I’m in this little watchtower on the edge of what I guess used to be a pre-War prison camp. Downloaded all the terminal records to the Pip-Boy so don’t need to explain. Veronica, you might not want to hear this. Elijah was here, before the Sierra Madre. It’s where he got the bomb collars from. Experimented on whatever ghouls survived in the camp. He also mentioned some other Courier, who told him about the Sierra Madre in the first place. I’m taking some of the junk to see what I can do with it. He must have left in a hurry, since he left a perfectly good laser rifle. I need to find the stealth suit, but I’ll come back and check the camp out later.

_Day 2:3_

Brotherhood has been here, probably hunting Elijah. Circle of Steel sniper rifle. I think I’m getting some more pieces to a story that’s bigger than I thought. Anyway, now I’m in the X-13 Research Facility. I’ve got the stealth suit, but there’s more I want to check out here and I’m fucking exhausted, so just going to bed down here for a bit. There are some security bots downstairs that think I’m part of the research program because I’ve got the suit, and I made friends with some nightstalkers the weirdos were experimenting on here, so if anything gets in I’ve at least got some backup.

_Day 3:1_

More fucking robo-scorpions! Electro bastards killed my nightstalker friends. And I found out this stealth suit auto-injects stimpacks when you need them, so there’s that. Found some stuff to upgrade it in the lab. Or upgrade her? She talks to you. You’ll see. Had to come back to the Sink – uh, that’s the apartment they gave me – and rest and patch myself up. Didn’t get a chance to check out the prison camp more. Shot a couple of lobotomites in the head though. One good thing about all this pre-War stuff: plenty of books to read. I mean, the Bible that Daniel gave me has a lot of good stuff, but it’s nice to have a change. A lot of stuff in here survived the bombs. Some of it probably shouldn’t have.

_Day 4:1_

Morning. Still stiff today. The Central Intelligence Unit – that’s the AI butler thing in the Sink, and I should probably give him a shorter name – says the medical research facility is probably the best place to find the backup holotape for the Auto-Doc in here. If I’m going to get beat up this much every time I go outside, that might be worth getting ahold of.

_Day 4:2_

Add cyberdogs to the list of things to watch out for here. Not too bad, but I’m in a fully-upgraded stealth suit with a silenced sniper rifle, so how the fuck do the lobotomites keep finding me? In the medical facility now –

[sounds of metal, swearing, what sounds like fire, a door slamming, then silence]

_Day 4:3_

Nearly got toasted by security robots but I think the coast is clear now. Found some good stuff I can use. Can’t get into the whole facility though. The sonic emitter isn’t doing its thing, it probably needs some tweaking. I’ll come back later.

_Day 4:4_

Auto-Doc is back online. Comforting voice and everything. Starting to wonder about how they got my brain.

_Day 5:1_

Morning. It’s weird how used to this whole routine I’m getting. Off to scavenge and see what I come up with.

_Day 5:2_

Holy shit. Veronica, when I get back we need to talk. Or if that’s not a thing, there are some logs on this you might want to hear. Check out the Patient Y-17 logs. Like I said, the Brotherhood has been here.

Guess that must be the other Courier. Guy definitely has some issues. He’s the one that sent Elijah to the Sierra Madre...because he wanted him dead? Unlike Elijah, this guy isn’t an egomaniac who leaves every stupid thought on unlocked terminals, so I’m guessing a bit. Nice of him to leave me a hideaway though, as long as the lobotomites don’t find it too.

_Day 5:3_

Found an indoor town where the scientists used to live when they were human. I’m surprised at how well it’s been preserved. A whole ring of little houses, with yards and fake little gardens and a fountain in the middle. Quaint. Nobody around.

_Day 5:4_

First house. Dr. 0 I assume. Man, he hates Mr. House. Has a picture of him with knives stabbed into it. Daddy issues, too. Busted securitrons. He’s the one who freaked out at my Pip-boy because Robco made it.

_Day 5:5_

Second house. Whoever lived here had a drinking problem, there’s wine everywhere. Wonder if any of it’s still good? Place is pretty clean though otherwise. Oh, it’s Dr. Klein’s. He seems kind of anal and picky, but most of the house is usable.

_Day 5:6_

Man, this place is a mess. Also, serious Mentats addiction.

I think this place is safe, or safe as anywhere here. Going back to Klein’s house where it’s clean to get some rest. It’s getting too dark to see without the Pip-boy light and I don’t want to miss anything important.

_Day 6:1_

Jesus Christ, Borous is a psychotic bastard. Why is there a teddy bear locked in a cage with knives sticking out of it? Do I want to know? Why are these people all such fucking psychos? He told me he missed his dog! Do I even want to know what he did to it?

_Day 6:2_

A bit of OCD here. Coffee cups all lined up. A lot of jukeboxes. There’s one back in the Sink. I think I found the backup holo to turn it on. Door said 108, but it’s between 103 and 104, so I think we can guess who this house belongs to. In the grand scheme of this place, it’s actually pretty sane.

_Day 6:3_

Fucking hell, Dala, what is with the teddy bears? I’m not sure what she wants them to be watching. This is creepy. I don’t want to touch anything.

[Stealth suit:] You’re my best friend forever!

It’s not that late, but once I check out the outside, I’m heading back to the Sink. I need to store some of this stuff and those psychos in the Think Tank need to give me some answers.

_Day 6:4_

The jukebox isn’t a jukebox and it can adapt the sonic emitter, so that’s useful. Also, the book chute turned on. It pulps things. I don’t want to give it anything I can actually read, but it did make me a nice journal. It’ll save some Pip-boy data space if nothing else, so I can explain some of the more complicated stuff. I’d say my brain hurts, but apparently that’s just the Tesla coils. Can they even ache?

* * *

_A whole book just for writing thoughts in! What a thing. I don’t know anybody who’s ever had one before, so felt like putting my name in it for posterity. I asked the Sink CIU what people used to write about in these, before the War, but he wasn’t much help. Or at least what data he had wasn’t much help. He did try._

_He also said people kept diaries other people weren’t supposed to read. That seems pointless. What else are books for? So I will give this to Boone and Veronica, and the others if they want it, as soon as I get back to New Vegas. Assuming that happens. If not, well, hello future reader! Welcome to the Sink, and I hope it all goes better for you than it did for me! At least I got the Auto-Doc working for you._

_Either way, someone will need to know what I’ve found out here. There are a few different threads (the Think Tank, Elijah, this other Courier) but I can’t do it all at once so bear with._

_First, the Think Tank. There are 5 of them. There were 6, but one broke away. As a group, they are all insane, all a bit afraid of things, and all dangerous, even if not in the normal way._

_Notes compiled so far on each:_

_1\. Dr. Klein. Leader of this bunch of misfit weirdos. Thinks he’s the smartest thing in the world but doesn’t actually seem to know anything; he fobs off or deflects any question you ask him. Looks like he drank a lot back when he was human, if there’s any wine left here it came from his old house. Thinks feet are penises? His volume knob is broken so he can only shout._

_2\. Dr. O (That’s zero, not O the letter). Breaks robots and claims “rendering things inoperable” is research. One of the easier ones to talk to, but that isn’t saying much. Really hates Mr. House and RobCo. Why he couldn’t just tell people his name I’m still not clear. Used to control the trains, back when they were running._

_3\. Dr. Dala. Weird as hell but in an easier way to work with. She’s pretty hormonal. Interested in watching humans “breathe”. Interested in human behavior in general, but mostly hoping to watch them have sex. Bizarre fixation with voyeur teddy bears. Was here studying Saturnite and minerals before the war, which brings us the cosmic knife._

_4\. Dr. 8. His thing was sound tech, in the pre-War days. The sonic emitter is his. It’s hard to talk to him because someone (I think Elijah) fried his voice module. He transmits RobCo terminal code, so it’s possible to figure out if you know what you’re doing. I’ve hacked a lot of RobCo terminals in my time, so it takes a bit of work, but it’s possible. He has “needs” like Dala’s but a bit less voyeuristic – don’t ask him about warming up the sonic emitter, just trust me – but passes on “discoveries” if you’re sympathetic._

_5\. Dr. Borous. Obsessed with high school, where he apparently got bullied, and communism, which I guess makes sense for a pre-War scientist. Experimented on animals and wasn’t nice about it. He made nightstalkers, cazadores, and probably deathclaws for all I know. Had a dog named Gabe but I don’t even want to know what happened to it._

_6\. Dr. Mobius. The last of the bunch and as crazy as them all. He broke off from the rest of the group. Not sure why, but they still hate each other. He makes robo-scorpions and broadcasts insults over the loudspeaker. ROBOT SCORPIONS._

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING:

_Day 7:1_

Jesus Christ, I’ve been here a week. Started writing in the book last night so there are more notes there. Today’s plan is trying to get the sonic emitter upgraded. Brainiacs say the equipment should be in X-8.

_Day 7:2_

Got chased by some lobotomites – how do they keep fucking finding me? – and hid in an old lab. Looks like it was one of the animal experimentation areas. It’s full of nightstalkers, so I’m glad I can get them to like me. Looks like I’m not the first to find my way in here and it didn’t always go well.

What’s this? Some holo for the Auto-Doc, I’ll see what it is later.

_Day 7:3_

I found the X-8 facility, but didn’t check it out. More lobotomites. One had a brush gun. I’ll try again tomorrow. I’ve got time to write in the book again though now the Auto-Doc fixed me up.

* * *

_ ELIJAH _

_1\. Fucking asshole._

_2\. Psychotic asshole._

_3\. DEAD._

_4\. Was Veronica’s mentor in the Brotherhood before he went crazy. Actually was probably crazy all along. Broke up her relationship (with Christine?) to get her to stick with him. Asshole._

_5\. Ended up in the Big MT. Why? From the terminal entries he left, he wasn’t planning on Sierra Madre yet. He might have just been looking for exciting new Tech._

_6\. Talked to the Think Tank before fighting them. Guess they captured him the way they did the rest of us but he got away? Figures. He asked them for something that could flatten a country. They didn’t believe there was a world outside. This could only go wrong for everyone._

_7\. Met a Courier who told him about the Sierra Madre. Ran into the ghouls in the prison camp and a bunch of bomb collars. Did what any psychotic bastard would do and put these thoughts together._

_– Courier X told him about the Cloud and the holograms. Not sure about the ghost people. Presumably the gold? It’s not what E. was after, but who wouldn’t want it if it’s laying around?_

_– Elijah didn’t talk to C. X. again after that, wanted to go it on his own. Found the Sierra Madre radio frequency near the prison camp and went from there._

_8\. Someday going to have to have long talk with Veronica about all of this._

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING

_Day 8:1_

I like the Sink, but I’m tired of being stuck here. How much more to do? Headed to find a somic emitter upgrade today. Going to need ammo.

_Day 8:2_

X-8 Research Center. It’s...where they take robots or animals and splice them together to make whatever fucked up abomination Borous – I assume it’s Borous – thought was cool that week. Still some of the...material...around. [sigh] This place is fucked up.

[several gunshots]

Lobotomites can get in, apparently.

_Day 8:3_

Just figured out how to make a cyberdog. I should feel bad about that, but she’ll be better off with me than whatever it is left in here. And I could use backup. Her name’s Roxie.

There’s some new test here before I can get to what I need. Let’s see how the new frequency works on robots.

_Day 8:4_

Fucking thing wants me to run the test _again_.

_Day 8:5, or 9:1_

Fuck this. Up all night running their fucking test with robots and killer cyberdogs and shit and the system wants it run AGAIN? We’re going.

[muffled barks, whines, and words]

Roxie’s programming won’t let her leave the facility. I’ll work on that and come back for her.


	2. Chapter 2

_New developments_

_Borous – obsessed with Betsy Bright, who didn’t go to a dance with him back in high school, whatever that is. Also with Richie Marcus, the guy she was hanging out with instead, who liked sports and smoking. Didn’t they all smoke? There are so many cigarettes lying around even I’d take nine lifetimes to smoke them all ._

_Also talked about his dog, Gabe, again. About replacing his legs with spare parts and feeding him Psycho in his dog food. No wonder these cyberdogs are all so pissed off._

_8 – WAY too excited about the sonic emitter being upgraded. I thought we had some decent banter but starting to feel creeped out._

_Lots of free time today, because the X-8 test went all night and I’m too tired to go back out. Now that the sonic emitter is upgraded, I wonder if it could take out the force field around the Sink? Not that I’m going to try it, I like that the lobotomites can’t go climbing over my balcony._

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING

_Day 9:2_

Headed out early this morning to track down a key to get back into part of the research facility. I am so done with the data retrieval tests, though. But hey, I get to check on my new dog, so that’s a thing, right?

_D_ _ay 9:3_

There’s an audio file for the sonic emitter made from the bark of Dr Borous’ old dog – the one he experimented on with chems and robotics and tortured into a psycho killing machine. I was going to leave him alone, but a bunch of robo-scorpions turned up and attacked him. I ran away. It’s probably for the best, honestly. Besides, there were plenty more scorpions for me to deal with inside. I still have most of the afternoon, should probably figure out where to go next and head there.

More about Borous: I think he’s started to feel a bit of regret for having tortured his dog. It’s too late now, of course, but it would be nice if my being here, reacquainting them with humans, did a little bit of good. I mean, even Fiends try not to hurt their dogs.

Have I talked about Dala yet? She likes to watch me breathe. It’s a bit creepy and voyeuristic, but I also feel kind of weirdly sorry for her? I don’t think I’d care to be a disembodied brain (I hope my actual disembodied brain may have other thoughts). I like having a body.

_D_ _ay 9:4_

So I think that’s all the things I need to get for the robobrainiacs. Problem is, I’m still never going to make it into the Forbidden Zone with what I have now. Also, there’s some stuff I want to follow up on. I know Elijah’s dead. He took a laser to the face and I took his gun from his headless body. (Sorry, Veronica.) But there are pieces of story here I still want, just as much as I want to go home. Besides, the more I get the Sink up and working, the more I think it’s not too bad. I’m getting the hang of the hiding places outside, but as long as I keep the jaunts pretty short, I think there’s some good stuff to find here. Going to go check out that prison camp and see if there are any more clues.

_D ay 9:5_

Mostly just ghouls. This is some of the saddest shit I’ve ever seen. I don’t often feel like it’s a genuine mercy to shoot somebody in the head.

_D ay 9:6_

I know Elijah got into the camp. That’s where he got the goddamn bomb collars from that he used in the Sierra Madre. He must have just been using the watchtower though – didn’t leave anything else behind.

* * *

_Elijah’s trail:_

_After HELIOS → the Divide?_

_Big MT. Caught by Robobrainiacs same as the rest, escaped Think Tank_

_Took over “human farm” (Little Yangtze prison camp). Found bomb collars, started experimenting on ghouls_

_When did he meet Courier X? Before 3 rd  log entry at LY – he mentions him, and Sierra Madre _

_Used bomb collars against Christine, escaped to – where?????_

_Christine:_

_Followed Elijah to Big MT – how? Crater? I don’t actually know the way here._

_Medical robots took her to Y-17 research lab, started lobotomy? Experimented?_

_\- she said they “made a flashlight out of her head”, it messed up her verbal processes_

_Rescued by Courier X – taken to hideout near Higgs village_

_Left to track Elijah to the Sierra Madre – but how did she get out?_

_Courier X:_

_How did he get here?_

_Wanted to meet Brotherhood – rescued Christine but didn’t like what she had to say_

“ _The man with the Old World flag on his back” – is he the one painting those flags all over?_

_Meeting in the Divide with another Courier? What, is there a convention? Guess we get around._

_Klein says melancholy and asked a lot of questions. Talked to Christine about history. Clearly as some issues_

_(But don’t we all?)_

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING

_Day 10:1_

Morning, guys. Miss you. Still, decided I’m going to try and get the Sink personality matrices all switched on if I can. There’s a water purifier, and seeds for that biological research station could be really helpful, and I’m starting to get the hang of the place.

Also I really want some answers.

_D ay 10:2_

So there’s a lot to get into today, but first we need to talk about the psychotic toaster.

You know how I said a bunch of appliances in here have personalities? The butler, the Auto-Doc, the lightswitch? Oh shit, I should write notes on them all in the book. Anyway, today I found the backup personality for the toaster. It was in a cave full of lobotomites, and it looked like they made some kind of shrine to this thing. It says that a toaster is just a death ray with less firepower, and wants to burn the whole world. I mean, that’s a bit redundant if you ask me, but I guess some of this Pre-War shit doesn’t know recent history very well.

On the plus side, it super-heated a Saturnite glove I found on one of the Lobotomites, so that should help if anything gets so close I have to punch it. Still prefer the sniper rifle, though.

* * *

_THE SINK_

_Central Intelligence Unit: runs the whole system. Speaks with an accent, calls me “sir”. I think he’s based off a character in one of the books that got left around here, so considering calling him Jeeves. Central Intelligence Unit is inconveniently long. He manages the personality matrices of the rest of the appliance, and also can access the commissary. I’m not really clear on how he got programmed with caps instead of old world money – something to look into later? Something about debugging its system, because if I ask Dr O he’ll give me some caps to “test” it._

_Upgrades: found a couple of holotapes that let it access mods from the commissary, but mostly for the cyberdog gun._

_Auto-Doc: Can heal pretty much everything. Keeps promising me a psych eval when I want one, but I’ve put it off so far. (What good is a psych eval without a brain?) This is what took my brain out of my body, so hopefully it’ll be able to put it back in when I find it. So useful to have – takes care of rads, injuries, addictions if that comes up. Can also do plastic surgery and haircuts._

_Upgrades: some implants – one that filters rads out of drinking water, one that makes you move faster, one helps regenerate. One has something to do with cazadores, because this place is weird._

_Blind Diode Jefferson: used to be a jukebox, but Dr Mobius took out his music drives and made something that changes the frequency of the sonic emitters. Sounds like an old world blues singer. Weirdly nice to talk to, even if he doesn’t have much to say._

_Lightswitch:_

_Flirts. Wants to have a candlelight dinner and discuss literature. Does NOT like the other lightswitch (which I haven’t found the backup for yet). Does something called “Smart lights” that’s supposed to make the thought processes work better._

_Book chute: A library book return chute, but it’s obsessed with Communist propaganda and keeping “citizens” docile. It makes blank books from old ruined books (or from not-ruined books, but I don’t want to destroy those – there are so many of the old burned ones lying around though!) It made this book!_

_Upgrade: mulching processes, which take clipboards and pencils and turn them into scrap metal and useful things_

_B iological Research Station: grows things from dried seeds. Processes plant matter into salient green (whatever that is...useful but weird). Definitely hitting on me in a kind-of creepy way, but they did a terrifyingly good job with the voice._

_Seed packets: Banana yucca, barrel cactus, broc flower, honey mesquite, Nevada agave, pinto bean, prickly pear, white horsenettle, Xander root, Jalapeño pepper, maize_

_Muggy: miniature securitron obsessed with coffee mugs. Dr O’s idea. Weirdo. (Dr O, not Muggy. I mean, Muggy’s a bit off too but he’s programmed to be, so it’s not his fault.) Cleans up dirty dishes. Also can process them into more useful things, so I guess there’s a reason to start grabbing some of the old broken dinnerware._

_Upgrade: can make microfusion cells, energy cells, and random bits of electronic shit , so that’s useful._

_Toaster: “Death ray but smaller”. Seriously psycho. Wants to watch the world burn. Murders appliances. Can also heat up the Saturnite fist. DO NOT LEAVE IT ALONE._

_2 nd  lightswitch & sink (real sink, not the apartment) – haven’t found yet_

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING

_Day 11:1_

Good morning, Veronica. Good morning, Boone. Morning Jeeves and lightswitch and Toaster and Muggy and Blind Diode Jefferson and Doc Auto and Bookchute. Let’s see what we can find today.

_Day 11:2_

Fucking fuck-ass lobotomite fuckers. How do they keep finding me?

_Day 11:3_

Killed a bunch of lobotomites. Ended up in some kind of canyon, hid in a building. I think it’s empty, at least of those things, because it’s flooded. Better have a look around though. Maybe throw something in the water, in case there’s a mirelurk or something in there and I need to run out again?

[sound of gunshot, probably a .45 auto pistol]

[breathing]

...Nothing, I guess. I’ll see what I can find walking first, but I’ve got Loyal’s rebreather if I need to dive in.

_Day 11:4_

Pretty good scavenging in here, actually. Also think I found the backup holotape for the sink in the Sink. I mean, the water sink, in case that wasn’t clear. A lot of energy ammo in here too. That’ll help.

_Day 11:5_

There were fucking robo-scorpions outside. Wish I’d thought to put mines out when I ran in the door, but I was kind of in a hurry. I hate those things.

After the first auto-inject stimpack, I lobbed a pulse grenade and legged it. Found an old radio transmitter to hide in. And guess what? I’m not the first one here again. Found you again, Elijah you miserable asshole. Let’s see what you left me this time.

...See, when you’re an egotistical asshole with a permanent Mentants migraine, you have to write everything down. Or what, you forget it? Or just worry that the world will never understand your grand plan? This is where he came after running from Christine at the prison camp. And he’s said where he’s going next. Do I follow, or head home first?

_Day 11:6_

Exploring around the transmitter got some more stuff. Pretty good haul actually. The sink works now. She’s a bit more afraid of dirt than I expect from an appliance that literally exists to wash things, but an unlimited source of pure water is pretty nice to have.

Also came back with seeds for the biological research station, another of Elijah’s spiffy old laser guns, an acid glove, some magazine articles about marketing. I mean, who doesn’t need that? Oh, and a holotape for the Auto-Doc so it doesn’t massacre haircuts. I don’t do haircuts. My mom’s people don’t, at least. She taught me all the things the locks mean. Bet you didn’t know there was a story in my hair, did you? Being here surrounded by not a single sane human makes you think about weird stuff.

Anyway, I’m going to add some notes. Maybe you guys can help me put the pieces together when I get back. A couple of days at most, I think. Then it’s off to face Dr. Mobius in the Forbidden Zone. Doesn’t that sound fun?

* * *

_Elijah’s trail: Little Yangtze to the signal transmitter._

_Says he’s checking out waste disposal plant, Securitron deconstruction area – check those next._

_At some point, took control of the trains – anything in the train tunnels?_

_Courier X:_

_Interested in weather patterns? Elijah says he was drawn by weather station, but that doesn’t seem to match up with what he told Christine._

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING

_Day 12:1_

Morning! Guess where I’m going today? To look at a waste disposal plant, following a dead asshole.

_Day 12:2_

Found it. Crawling with lobotomites. I’ve got the high ground, they’re all down in some canyon. Think I’ve got an idea.

[sound of something large being moved or possibly lifted, then a missile being fired...then a loud explosion]

...Got ‘em.

_Day 12:3_

Not much here. He also mentioned the Securitron Deconstruction Plant. I’ve already checked that out, but I was looking for something else then. Let’s see what turns up.

_Day 12:4_

The flag on the door is red, here. Does that make a difference? Are these signals, or is he only ever just carrying one colour paint?

Okay, I’ve been back here before, but there is something – drained energy cells. I thought I grabbed them all, but there are a few more. Turrets up there. Time to be sneaky.

[Stealth suit:] If I help you hide, will you love me?

_Day 12:5_

Found Elijah’s last camp. He’s got a good set-up here. Turrets, cliffs, and apparently the same broken Securitrons that I ran into are good at keeping out lobotomites and shit. This is where he took control of the trains. Also has some shitty things to say about Christine. Guess he hasn’t seen Courier X since that one conversation.

This might be everything I need. I’ll scribble it all out when I get back to the Sink, but maybe it’s Forbidden Zone time.

_Day 12:6_

So I think I just stumbled on the perimeter of the Forbidden Zone. There were more robo-scorpions. Not going in there unprepared, but it’s handy to know where it is.

* * *

_PIECES AND PIECES_

_Elijah’s trail:_

_After HELIOS → the Divide?_

_Big MT. Caught by Robobrainiacs same as the rest, escaped Think Tank_

_Took over “human farm” (Little Yangtze prison camp). Found bomb collars, started experimenting on ghouls_

_When did he meet Courier X? Before 3 rd  log entry at LY – he mentions him, and Sierra Madre _

_Used bomb collars against Christine, escaped to – where?????_

_Little Yangtze to the signal transmitter._

_Says he’s checking out waste disposal plant, Securitron deconstruction area – check those next._

_At some point, took control of the trains – anything in the train tunnels?_

_Camp above the Securitron plant_

_Took control of the trains with the radio transmitter. Guess this is how he escaped Big MT._

_To abandoned Brotherhood safehouse east of Vegas → Sierra Madre_

_Wanted to poison everybody with the Cloud, then start new country with bomb collars and presumably some other stuff he could get out of SM vending machines._

_I don’t really like his vision of the future. Sorry, Veronica. He’s still an asshole._

_Christine:_

_Followed Elijah to Big MT – how? Crater? I don’t actually know the way here._

_Medical robots took her to Y-17 research lab, started lobotomy? Experimented?_

_\- she said they “made a flashlight out of her head”, it messed up her verbal processes_

_Rescued by Courier X – taken to hideout near Higgs village_

_Left to track Elijah to the Sierra Madre – but how did she get out?_

_Probably after the trains disrupted the force field. E already gone to SM by then, according to Courier X_

_Sierra Madre: captured by Dog like the rest of us – voice taken before or after? Does she even know?_

_Still in the SM as far as I know. I tried to get her to come back, V. Guess we all have shit we need to work out._

_Courier X:_

_How did he get here?_

_Wanted to meet Brotherhood – rescued Christine but didn’t like what she had to say_

“ _The man with the Old World flag on his back” – is he the one painting those flags all over?_

_Meeting in the Divide with another Courier? What, is there a convention? Guess we get around._

_Klein says melancholy and asked a lot of questions. Talked to Christine about history. Clearly as some issues_

_(But don’t we all?)_

_Interested in weather patterns? Elijah says he was drawn by weather station, but that doesn’t seem to match up with what he told Christine._

_Flags: red, white, blue. Blue seems safe, at least as safe as anything is here. Red = danger? How much danger? These were only securitrons._

_Holotape log with Christine was after E escaped, so he must have got out then too. (SO THERE IS A WAY OUT. But I still need my brain back. At least I think I do.)_

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING

_Day 1 3:1_

Morning, everybody. That’s everybody here and also back home. Lucky Day 13, huh? Hope I’ll be seeing you guys soon. I’ve got all three things, and I think I have an idea how they can be used to put me back together once I manage to retrieve my brain. Just going to head up to the Think Tank and see if the Robobrainiacs have pretty much the same ideas.

_Day 13:2_

Basically, the antenna will boost the sonic emitter’s strength to get the Forbidden Zone door open, and then the Stealth Suit’s dampening field will get me through the door. Wish me luck.

_Day 13:3_

This is definitely the place I found yesterday. Dead robo-scorpions. I think this one’s still sparking. Right.

Look, in case this goes really badly…

No, let’s not think about it. See you soon.

_Day 13:4_

[Sounds of lasers. Many lasers.]

GIANT ROBO-SCORPION. GIANT. I released some target drones to distract it while I look for a way to shut it off.

[Stealth suit:] Fighting now!

Gotta go.

_Day 13:5_

Well. Just had a, uh, chat with Dr. Mobius. None of this is what I was expecting, but there’s no time to tell you about it now. I need to go find my brain.

_Day 13:6_

This day just gets weirder and weirder. I just met my brain. It sounds a bit like Jeeves. We’re teaming up, but it’s staying in the jar. Look – I know it sounds crazy. I’m not saying it isn’t. I’ll explain later. Time to head back to the Think Tank and deal with this...mess.

* * *

_So Dr. Mobius was just as insane as the rest of them, but in a better kind of way. He wanted to keep them inside Big MT, distracted, because otherwise they’d find their way outside the radar fence and start their “experiments” in the Mojave. I mean, it is kind of a dick move to reprogram all your friends, but also, seeing what they were capable of just in here, with the Lobotomites and Little Yangtze and Christine and Gabe the dog, I’m not sure there was really a better option._

_My brain has a serious attitude problem. I’m proud._

_I know they’re insane robot brains decaying in biogel, but I still felt a bit of the warm fuzzies when they all argued with Dr. Klein to not vivisect me. I know, I’ve clearly been here too long, because between the robobrainiacs and the Sink personality matrices I’ve started feeling like a bunch of my friends have off-switches, but it’s hard not to start thinking of some of them like people. And we love Rex and ED-E, right? So the Think Tank are still here, working on whatever I send their way, and staying “safe” and out of the Mojave where they could do damage._

_They’ve given me something called a Transportalponder, so I can get in and out – isn’t that weird, that I still don’t actually know how to get into the crater? Guess I could find out if I looked, once I”m outside._

_It’s nice to think I’ll still be able to come back to the Sink. The lightswitches are calling each other names. The toaster is planning world domination (good thing he doesn’t have legs). The Bookchute is talking about communists and penguins, the biological research station is hitting on the sink, and I think Muggy is in the corner crying. The Auto-Doc is snoring, and Jeeves is offering to sing light opera. Not going to lie, this place is weird, but I’ve kind of gotten attached._

_I wonder if there’s more out there about the story of Elijah and Christine. And Courier X. I know where two of them are, Wonder if I’ll ever run into the last._

_Anyway, time to close this up and get ready to go home. Some maps and diagrams on the next couple of pages in case it helps. Looks like I might not have to have this posthumously delivered after all._

* * *

PIP-BOY RECORDING

_Day 14: 1_

Morning, guys. So two weeks later, it looks like I’m going to make it home.

[Background: sounds of cheering, chattering electronic voices, then Blind Diode Jefferson: “guess you’ll be putting your walking shoes on again, hitting that old lonesome road.”]

See you soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, if you made it this far! It was just for fun, because OWB is so bizarre. Annie's adventures do continue (in a more serious-minded fashion, because it's a very different kind of DLC) in [A Road That Leads to Glory](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24615544/chapters/59466559), when she learns the rest of the story about Courier X.


End file.
